Big Stone County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Big Stone County

Guide to Big Stone County, Minnesota ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Ortonville Organized: February 8, 1881 Parent County(s): Pierce (extinct) Neighboring Counties Grant (SD)  • Lac Qui Parle  • Roberts (SD)  • Stevens  • Swift  • Traverse See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for the Big Stone Lake. The County is located in the west-central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Big Stone County Courthouse
20 SE 2nd Street
Ortonville, MN 56278-1544
Phone: 320-839-2308
Big Stone County Website

County Recorder has birth, marriage and land records from 1881, divorce and court records from 1885.
Court Judge has probate records.

Big Stone County, Minnesota Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1881	1881	1881	1885	1881	1881	1836
*Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

Record Loss

1885 Courthouse was destroyed by fire. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Created from Pierce County(extinct); February 20, 1862. County seat: Ortonville Organization Date: February 8, 1881 Interactive Map of Minnesota County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Minnesota county boundary changes Minnesota Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Populated Places

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Barry Beardsley Clinton	Correll Graceville Johnson	Odessa Ortonville
Unincorporated communities
Artichoke Big Stone Colony	Bonanza Grove Foster	Lagoona Beach Yankeetown
Townships
Akron Almond Artichoke Big Stone Browns Valley	Foster Graceville Malta Moonshine Odessa	Ortonville Otrey Prior Toqua

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Big Stone County, Minnesota online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Billion Graves Find A Grave Interment.net MN Tombstone Transcription Project USGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	FamilySearch Places Find A Grave
See Minnesota Cemeteries for more information.

 

Census Records

For links to Federal, State, and Territorial censuses, see Minnesota Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	24	—
1880	3,688	15266.7%
1890	5,722	55.2%
1900	8,731	52.6%
1910	9,367	7.3%
1920	9,766	4.3%
1930	9,838	0.7%
1940	10,447	6.2%
1950	9,607	−8.0%
1960	8,954	−6.8%
1970	7,941	−11.3%
1980	7,716	−2.8%
1990	6,285	−18.5%
2000	5,820	−7.4%
2010	5,269	−9.5%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1835-1890 Minnesota, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1835-1890 at Ancestry ($)
• 1849-1905 Minnesota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905 at Ancestry ($)
• 1865 Minnesota State Census, 1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1885 Minnesota State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1905 Minnesota State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Church Records

Most church records are held by individual churches. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information, see Minnesota Church Records.

• FamilySearch Places
  

Emigration and Immigration

• 1912-1956 Minnesota Passenger and Crew Lists, 1912-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Land and Property Records

The county register of deeds keeps land records once the land was transferred to private ownership. Abstracts and indexes for these records are generally available at the county courthouse.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• Pre-1908 Minnesota, Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908 at Ancestry ($)

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Big Stone County. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Minnesota Local Histories.

• Minnesota County History Name Index at Ancestry ($)

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• 1874 Map of Big Stone, Grant, Stevens, and Traverse counties at David Rumsey Map Collections
• Minnesota Maps at David Rumsey Map Collections
• FamilySearch Places: Cities and Towns - How to Use FS Places
• Minnesota Department of Transportation, Big Stone County municipality and township maps.

Military Records

Civil War

• 1861-1865 U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1861-1865 Minnesota, Civil War Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1861-1865 Minnesota Civil War Soldiers at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1861-1917 United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection
• 1861-1934 U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 at Ancestry (Free collection)

Spanish American War

• 1898-1899 Minnesota Volunteers in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection at Ancestry ($)
• 1898-1899 Minnesota, Spanish American War Muster Rolls and Casualty Lists, 1898-1899 at Ancestry (Free Index)

World War I

• 1917-1918 U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1918-1941 Minnesota, World War I Records, 1918-1941 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection.

World War II

• 1940-1947 Minnesota, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1947 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1940-1947 U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 at Ancestry ($)
• 1942 U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 at Ancestry ($)

Naturalization and Citizenship

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

• 1849-1985 Web: Minnesota, Naturalization Index, 1849-1985 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1872-1962 Minnesota Naturalization Records and Indexes, 1872-1962 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
• 1880-1920 Minnesota, Federal Naturalization Records, 1880-1920 at Ancestry ($)
• 1918 Web: Minnesota, Alien Registration Index, 1918 at Ancestry (Free collection)

Newspapers

• Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub at Minnesota Historical Society — narrow to county (55 listed) or city (106 listed), search for surname, limit by date.

Obituaries

• 1865-2006 Minnesota Obituaries 1865-2006 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1891-2003 Web: Minnesota, Obituary Index, 1891-2003 at Ancestry (Free collection)

Probate Records

Probate records may include wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. They may include the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, etc. See Minnesota Probate Records for additional information.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1801-1925 Minnesota, Wills and Probate Records, 1801-1925 at Ancestry ($)
• 1849-1985 Minnesota Will Records, 1849-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch — How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

Since Minnesota tax records include only persons who owned taxable property, many residents were not included. Still they complement land records and can be used in place of missing censuses or the years between censuses. There may also be gaps. For more information, see the wiki page Minnesota Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents.

A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Minnesota Vital Records.

Birth

• 1840-1980 Minnesota, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1840-1980 at Ancestry ($)
• 1900-1934 Minnesota People Records Search - Births at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)
• 1900-1934 Minnesota, Birth Index, 1900-1934 at MyHeritage; index ($)
• 1935-2000 Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1935-2000 at Ancestry ($)

Marriage

• 1850-2019 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1860-1949 Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1885-present Minnesota Official Marriage System at MOMS.mn.gov; search by county, name or date, and request copy.
• 1970-2003 Minnesota Marriage Records Index, 1970-2003 at Archives ($)
• 1976-2003 Minnesota, Marriages, 1976-2003 at MyHeritage; index ($)

Death

• 1850-2001 Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1887-2001 Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1904-2001 Minnesota People Records Search - Deaths at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)
• 1904-2001 Minnesota, Death Index, 1904-2001 at MyHeritage; index ($)
• 1908-2017 Minnesota, U.S., Death Index, 1908-2017 at Ancestry ($)

Divorce

• 1970-1995 Minnesota, U.S., Divorce Index, 1970-1995 at Ancestry ($)
• 1970-2003 Minnesota Divorce Records Index, 1970-2003 at Archives ($)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Big Stone County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

To locate the closest family history center or affiliate library, use the link listed above.

• Stevens County Historical Society & Museum - an affiliate library
• Jefferson Madison Regional Library - Green County Branch - an affiliate library

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Big Stone County. For state-wide library facilities, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

Ortonville Public Library
412 NW 2nd Street
Ortonville, MN 56278
320-8390-2494
Website

Graceville Public Library
415 Studdart Ave
PO Box 457
Graceville, MN 56240
Phone: 320-748-7332
Website

Museums

Big Stone County Historical Society and Museum
985 US Highway 12
Ortonville, MN 56278
320-839-3359
Website
Facebook

Societies

Listed below are societies in Big Stone County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Minnesota Societies.

Minnesota Valley History Learning Center
985 US Hwy 12
Ortonville, MN 56278
320-839-3359
Email:bscmuseum@bigstonelake.net
Website

Big Stone County Historical Society and Museum
985 US Highway 12
Ortonville, MN 56278
320-839-3359
Website

Websites

• Big Stone County MNGenWeb Project, a member of The MNGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
• Big Stone County listings at Cyndi's List
• Research at Minnesota Historical Society — links to Records and Indexes; See also MHS Wiki Page
• USGenWeb Archives for Big Stone County.
• Iron Range Research Center The Iron Range Research Center contains one of the largest collections of genealogical and local history research materials in the Upper Midwest and includes census, naturalization records, passenger arrival records, mining company newsletters, and a survey of Women in Industry taken in 1919, among many others.
• FamilySearch Catalog – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

The collection is free on this subscription website.

FamilySearch affiliate libraries may have access to center-only databases, but do not always have all services normally provided by a family history center.